Ellen Lea, the Quaker midwife, enjoying a moment with Brigadier General Lewis Armistead. Photo taken October 8, 2006, Grace Under Fire in Williamsport, Maryland.

The Story

Ellen Lea, from an old Delaware family, serves as a traveling midwife. Philosophically, she is a Quaker, (although read out of meeting for marrying a Roman Catholic) and an ardent abolitionist. She is opposed to war and horrified by the carnage. Her training and experience make her an ideal nurse. She will care equally for wounded soldiers of either army.

Mrs. Lea will offer the Confederacy one small mercy. Since the embargo of southern ports, the ability to import medicines, in particular laudanum, has been curtailed. Mrs. Lea therefore has taken matters into her own hands. Her regular travels allow her to purchase laudanum in the north. The vials are stitched into pockets in her petticoats and then smuggled past Union lines and into the hands of Confederate military doctors to relieve the suffering of their wounded.

Mrs. Lea wears a clean white apron upon arrival, but if asked to work amongst the wounded she changes into her work apron, much stained with blood. She usually has a deck of cards and a drop spindle with her, both for passing the time. She is used to the long hours while awaiting a birth. She can speak of medical matters concerning women's health, pregnancy and confinement, and the easing of the elderly into the next life. She has some experience with nursing wounded soldiers. While ignorant of most matters of medical science, she has noticed from her own experience in both midwifery and war nursing that cleanliness seems to improve the outcome.